1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a manufacturing method thereof, and particularly to a flexible display.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flat panel display such as an organic electroluminescence (EL) display device has a display panel in which a thin film transistor (TFT), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and the like are formed on a substrate. Conventionally, a glass substrate is used for the base member of the display panel. However, recently, the development of a flexible display using a resin film or the like as the base member to enable the flexure of the display panel is under way.
As a structure of the organic EL display device, an element substrate having a display area where an OLED as a display element is formed, and a counter substrate on which a color filter or the like is formed and which is arranged opposite the display area of the element substrate, are bonded together. To secure reliability, the element substrate and the counter substrate are bonded together with a filler held between these substrates. In this case, a method may be used in which a dam having a convex structure is formed at an outer peripheral part of the counter substrate, then the filler is dripped into the dam, and the element substrate and counter substrate are thus bonded together. This dam plays the role of preventing the filler from protruding to the outside. The dam is formed by applying a fluid material onto the outer perimeter of the panel with a dispenser or the like and then hardening the fluid material.
Also, a layer (substrate layer) in which a plurality of the flexible element substrates and counter substrates are arranged is formed on a support plate such as a glass substrate, and after the two substrates are bonded together on each support plate, the resulting structure is divided into a plurality of display panels.